The University Centre of the Westfjords (UW) has been awarded a highly competitive NordForsk grant for the "LostToClimate" project, which will explore the unavoidable non-economic losses experienced by Arctic communities due to climate change. This collaborative effort brings together scientists and community members from Finland, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Greenland, Canada, and the United States, including several Indigenous communities, to co-produce knowledge that can inform future adaptation strategies.

At the annual general meeting of the University Centre of the Westfjords last Friday, March 14, 2025, where all the founding members are gathered, UW director announced under other matters his intention to pass the baton during 2025.

Last Friday, UW marked its 20th anniversary with an open house at Vestrahús. Several other institutions in the building also participated in the celebration, which featured a diverse program and exceeded expectations for attendance. The day began with the annual meeting, which is typically held in May, but this time was scheduled closer to UW’s founding date to coincide with the anniversary and integrated with the open house.

The annual meeting of the board and founding members of UW, will be held on Friday March 14th at 13:00. UW is a nonprofit educational institute and the annual meeting is open to guests. Previous years the annual meeting has taken place in May, but on the occasion of UW's 20th anniversary, the board decided to honour the founders with an annual meeting closer to the day UW was founded, March 12th. Founding UW, an higher educational institute was a bold step at that time, given the fact that the number of inhabitants in the Westfjords is only around 7500 people. Since then, UW  has become an active link in Iceland's higher education landscape and a beacon for learning outside the capital area.

The University Centre of the Westfjords (UW) is thrilled to announce that Brianna Marie Cunliffe, a first-year master’s student in the Coastal Communities and Regional Development program, has received a 350,000 ISK research grant from the Icelandic Regional Development Institute. The funding will support her thesis project, titled “Participatory Energy Planning for Resilient Coastal Westfjords Futures.”

We are proud to announce that Christoph Pfülb, a second-year master’s student in the Coastal Communities and Regional Development program at the University Centre of the Westfjords (UW), has received a prestigious research grant from the Icelandic Regional Development Institute. His thesis project, titled "Volunteerism and Emergency Management in Iceland: Examining the Role of Place Attachment and Local Engagement in Search and Rescue and Disaster Relief Organizations", addresses critical aspects of local community resilience in the face of natural hazards and climate change.

The University Centre of the Westfjords (UW) turns 20 years old this year. Twenty years ago, the people in the Westfjords were fighting for many things: paved roads, tunnels, mobile phone service, coastal fishing and shipping, safety, electricity at Christmas, and, yes, a university. No more, no less.

The University Centre of the Westfjords (UW) is delighted to share the news that yet another master’s student has received funding from the Westfjords Development Fund. The fund aims to support cultural projects, business development, and innovation in the Westfjords, and to provide support for start-ups and operating costs to cultural institutions in the Westfjords. Brendan Kirby, a master’s student at UW in the Coastal Communities and Regional Development program, received a 400,000 ISK grant to develop a climbing guide for the Westfjords.

At the turn of the year there will be a new service provider of internet services towards UW. The FS-net, once made for distance learning service centres in the countryside, will cease operations. Instead, the University Centre of the Westfjords now has made an agreement with local Snerpa internet provider.

For the past couple of days, our academic director, Matthias Kokorsch, attended the 6th Nordic Ruralities conference in Kiruna. The title of the conference was New paths to sustainable transitions? Apart from the conference theme, the city itself– yet not being coastal– is highly relevant for our program on Coastal Communities and Regional Development, and Matthias left with much inspiration for coming courses. Kiruna is on the Move - The mining town is relocating its entire center to make way for continued mining operations— an ambitious plan stretching to 2100. The move began in 2014 and includes shifting historic buildings, designing a denser, greener, and more sustainable city. Yet, the development is not uncontested. As we learned during the conference, the relocation of Kiruna has faced criticism for prioritizing mining profits over the rights and livelihoods of local Sámi communities, whose reindeer herding lands are heavily impacted. This has sparked debates about green colonialism, as the project highlights the tension between sustainability goals and the exploitation of Indigenous territories for resource extraction.